Milk & Honey and Being Available

Fairly significant changes are afoot. My lovely bride and I have relocated to The Land of Milk and Honey, also known as The Hoosier State. Our home in The Free State is on the market at this writing and due to be shown in successive open houses this weekend. This is not trivial. That home was purchased new by my in-laws in 1961 and has been owned by their family ever since. In addition to prying my dear wife away from nearly all she has ever known, we have uprooted ourselves with no jobs to go to and no discernible prospects. We have a firm grip on fun.

It has occurred to me that whoever coined the phrase "Land of Milk and Honey" was probably unfamiliar with lactose sensitivity and fluctuating sugar levels. But what the heck. We're here and we're generally very pleased that here is where we are. We are missing friends, but we're making new friends and finding richness in relationships that have been dormant for many seasons. We are ready to act and waiting for a couple of key data points to solidify.

They are:

Work/job. The defining difference between these two terms is that work can come from anywhere and in many cases can also be performed from anywhere. Work is where my heart lies. I want to ply my trade and touch as many businesses and people as possible. Jobs are not so flexible. The day is coming, I'm sure, but it's not fully here yet. Jobs entail a regular commute to and from someplace. If our income is job-based, it will affect the second data point.

Home. We are being housed, fed, and loved by two wonderful people right now. Having just entertained my sister's dog over the weekend, I am now fully aware that this is not an eternal welcome. I love my sister's dog. I love that she is my sister's dog. You get me?

So we need to give my parents their basement again, reclaim all our worldly possessions, and attempt to stuff them into a dwelling we can call our own.

I'm kind of excited about that. Really. The smaller the dwelling, the greater the likelihood that we will select the things most important to us and let go of the rest. This will fulfill our daughter's most fervent wish--"when you die, please die as minimalists." I'm not demonizing dear daughter. That may not, in fact, be her most fervent wish. But it's one of them. She's seen us wade through items floating in the wake of my in-laws' passing and she is taking a firm stance. Not me. Not now. Not ever. So we have our orders.

As I mentioned, homes are generally within relatively easy driving range of places of employment. So when we have the former, we'll have a likely location of the latter. Meanwhile, we have a mortgage for a home we own but do not occupy, we have a home we occupy but do not own, we have obligations but no income, and we have the makings of a glorious mess. Honestly, I have not had this much fun in years.

I was told in an interview today, "you guys (meaning technical writers) are hard to find." That may be so, but we're hiding about as well as two-year-olds. Short of jumping up and down, flapping my arms, and yelling "Over here! Over here!", I'm not sure what else to do. Frankly, I want to be It. Tag me!

In perspective, this is just Monday. There's a lot of week left. In that time God can close a lot of doors and open a lot of windows. And there will probably be another week after this one. So I will continue to be available, to be searching, and to be the right person for the right opportunity at the right time. I think that is being all that I can be.